THE GOVERNMENT has said for the first time that some householders may get financial assistance to fix septic tanks and dismissed as “hysterical” Opposition claims that the bills will come to €20,000 or more.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said yesterday that monetary assistance may be available in some cases if required but would not say how much funding would be available or to whom.
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, he said he would not be in a position to give details until the inspection of tanks began next year.
Following the Government’s sudden decision on Monday to reduce the septic tank registration fee from €50 to €5 for those who register within three months, Opposition parties and TDs yesterday accused Mr Hogan of a climbdown and of trying to divert public attention from the real issue – the cost for householders of remedial work for septic tanks that failed inspection.
However, Taoiseach Enda Kenny claimed that Fianna Fáil’s Éamon Ó Cuív and Independent TD Mattie McGrath and others had made “hysterical comments” on the issue and contended that there was no basis for claims that it would cost €17,000 or €20,000.
In the midst of heated exchanges in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said: “I am quite sure you are not going to have people spluttering into their pints and saying, ‘Oh God, I should not have bought this, I should have registered the septic tank instead’. For less than the price of a pint in many establishments, a person can register the fact that he or she is the owner of a septic tank,” he said.
Talking to reporters earlier yesterday, Mr Kenny said: “It is a very real incentive for people to get on with proving that Ireland can measure up in terms of ground water, hygiene, environmental standards”.
However, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said imposing charges on people would criminalise rural Ireland and said any repair or restoration work would have to be grant-aided.
When Mr Kenny pointed out that the registration costs in Northern Ireland “were very much in excess of what is being charged down here”, Mr Adams responded that local authorities there remove sludge annually for free.
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins said Mr Hogan had failed to address the issue of who would bear the costs of repair work. Mr Hogan and Mr Kenny said in most cases it would involve only the cost of desludging the tank.